


beneath the mask

by celesy



Category: Persona 5
Genre: M/M, Slight spoilers, sweet catharsis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-27
Updated: 2017-04-27
Packaged: 2018-10-24 13:25:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10742586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celesy/pseuds/celesy
Summary: “Hey, Akechi. I’m sick of this, alright? I’m sick of the hiding.”





	beneath the mask

With them, it’s always been a game of give and take.

  


Akira takes a step forward, and Goro immediately mirrors it with a step back - like a dance, or a chess battle - and feels his back hit the smooth wood of the counter. He tenses, but Akira still looks infuriatingly unbothered, moving closer and sliding a hand up Goro’s face to cup his cheek. Goro’s hand finds purchase on the counter, and suddenly, with the other boy so close, he feels like it’s the only thing holding him upright.

  


He meets that piercing gaze head on - a bluff, an attempt to seem like he’s still got the upper hand - but Akira’s backed him into a corner and he knows it. He grins like it’s a fucking  _ holiday _ and tucks a strand of brown hair behind Goro’s ear. A shadow of tenderness. The gesture, however, does little to ease his feeling of being a mouse caught in a perfectly placed trap.

  


It’s torturous, waiting for him to speak. The proximity slows seconds into minutes, and time drips instead of flowing, like honey from a spoon. Goro doesn’t look away, though he would like nothing better, and neither does Akira.

  


“You’re still hiding,” he says finally, the words a merciful reprieve from the silence. “You’re hiding, but what?”

  


“It has nothing to do with you,” Goro replies smoothly, struggling to keep his voice level.

  


“Isn’t it heavy?” Akira wonders, fingers traveling to his chin, slow, deliberate, “That mask of yours?”

  


Goro’s throat feels dry. “I-”

  


“Shh.” His voice dips low. “Hey, Akechi. I’m sick of this, alright? I’m sick of the hiding.”

  


Frustration rises in Goro’s chest. He’s sick too. Of course he is. Akira can’t possibly know the way it feels to want something so out of his reach, something he doesn’t deserve, can’t deserve. His chest twists. After all, he has everything Goro had ever wanted, and he doesn’t even have to try - they flock to him, troubled souls to a loving heart, like fireflies to the flame. 

  


He knows he’s one of them. They can’t help it. Neither can he.

  


“What do you want me to do, Joker?” he grinds out, feeling his patience teeter at the breaking point. Akira always chases him to his extremes. He’s not used to being pushed like that, but he minds far less than he should.

  


“Show me your true form,” Akira replies, and with a sudden, jerking motion, mimics tearing a mask off the detective’s face.

  


Goro’s breath catches. There is a certain earnestness in Akira’s eyes, something raw,  _ real. _ It feels like he’s baring his soul to him and that his own soul is straining against his chest, yearning to meet the other somewhere in the space between them.

  


He scoffs out a quiet laugh, dropping his gaze. If he looks any longer he might say something he shouldn’t. “That’s not something you want to see. That’s not something  _ anyone  _ wants to see.” 

  


Akira moves closer. “I want to,” he says, breath hot on Goro’s neck. “I want to see everything. I want to know you. And I want you to know me.”

  


It hurts. It hurts so much to hope. To think that he’s got a chance. To have something so beautiful just brushing the tips of his fingers. It hurts, because he doesn’t have any way of convincing himself it won’t shatter in his hands.

  


Deep down, he’s not sure himself what’s under the mask. He’s afraid that he’s been pretending so long that the lies have smothered any semblance of true self that exists within him. 

  


But the steady rhythm of Akira’s breathing calms him. And he wants to try. Maybe it’s foolish, but Goro thinks that if it’s him, he can dig through the wreckage and bring his heart back to the surface again. 

  


Almost on impulse, Goro wraps his arms around the thief’s shoulders. Akira lets out a breath, like he’s relieved, and pulls him closer by the waist, pressing his face into the crook of his neck. His eyes sting, but he knows he won’t cry - he’s warmer now than he’s ever been.

  


For the first time in his life, he doesn’t have a plan. He never dreamed of this. There’s no foolproof strategy, no safety net, for what he’s about to do. But he knows what he wants, and he’s strangely unafraid - Akira performs a strange alchemy on his insides, transforms fear to courage like lead into gold.

  


“Steal my heart then, Joker,” he whispers, mouth curling into a small smile, and as he feels Akira laugh against him, he knows it’s been his for a long time.

**Author's Note:**

> aaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH
> 
> yall know tht bruno mars screaming vine. thats me. im bruno mars. and im screaming.
> 
> shuake snatched me so hard im still reeling. im completely and totally bald. send help. 
> 
> this piece feels kinda out of place to me? but i had to get my messy feelings down somewhere so here. shoves it into ur mouth. eat. grow strong
> 
> my twitters r on my profile if u wanna mcfuckin die with me hit me up
> 
> id love to hear what u thought!!


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